Aedán Smith, RSPB Scotland’s Head of Planning and Development, said: “This is very welcome news from SSE. We have been concerned about this proposal for a number of years. SSE should be commended on this responsible decision which recognises the importance of this site for sensitive species. We hope SSE and other wind farm developers will continue to apply similar thinking and consideration to other sites where there are environmental concerns.

“Although much of Lewis is important for wildlife, there is still scope to develop windfarms as long as they are well sited and designed. We recently withdrew our objection to the 36 turbine Stornoway windfarm, which is on a less sensitive part of Lewis, following efforts of the developer to reduce impacts on wildlife.

“We look forward to continuing our constructive relationship with SSE and the renewables industry to ensure windfarms can continue to be built in the right places, without harming Scotland’s fantastic environmental assets.”

RSPB supports the development of renewable energy including wind farms to help tackle climate change, but they must be located in the right place avoiding our most important places for wildlife.

Notes

Further details on the Pairc and Stornoway windfarms, and other major developments the RSPB is involved with, can be found on our website: http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/casework/